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‘They’re going to hurt my father if I don’t do it,’ she said.
‘How?’ Marco demanded, glancing at her with his piercing gaze. ‘How are they going to hurt him?’
‘I knew I shouldn’t trust you!’ Claudia cried, folding her arms across her chest and hugging herself tightly. ‘You just want to know what it is they have on him, so that you can use it yourself!’
‘I’m just interested,’ Marco said. ‘In all the years I’ve been following the situation, I’ve never found anything on your father. As far as I can tell, he’s kept his nose clean.’
‘The situation,’ Claudia echoed. ‘You are so cold! You are talking about my family.’
‘Because of what they—you—did to my family,’ he responded.
‘I was thirteen years old when we came to Turin!’ she gasped. ‘When all this started.’
‘You’re an adult now,’ Marco said. ‘Responsible for your own actions. You make your own decisions.’
‘I didn’t just decide to marry Primo,’ she said. ‘I told you—they are blackmailing me. Threatening to hurt my father!’
‘Blackmail—that’s a serious accusation,’ he said. ‘Maybe I can add that to the catalogue of crimes I’ll be using as evidence against Vasile. But I’ll need to know the details.’
‘I can’t tell you. I’m scared you’ll use the information against my father,’ she said, dragging her fingers through her hair, which was still tangled from their lovemaking. ‘And Primo will use it if I don’t go through with the wedding,’ she finished in dismay.
‘So it’s going to come out anyway,’ Marco said. ‘You might as well tell me now.’
She bit her lip and turned away to stare blindly out of the passenger window. She didn’t know what to do, but she had to find some way to stop her father getting hurt.
Marco put the folder of documents back into his briefcase and looked across at Claudia. She was still sleeping, curled up under a blanket in the aeroplane seat. They were halfway into their private flight to the Caribbean and she had already been asleep for a couple of hours.
Marco was far too wired for sleep, despite the fact that he hadn’t had much rest over the past few days. He’d been trying to read the documents detailing the evidence he’d compiled against Vasile and Francesca—it was almost impossible to believe that his family would finally be avenged. But his thoughts had been completely overtaken by Claudia.
He watched her sleeping. She was exquisite—more beautiful than when they’d first met four years ago. Maybe it was because she’d grown her fringe out and he could see the delicate arch of her brows and the smooth width of her forehead, but her stunning bone structure seemed to be even more defined. And her clear skin looked even more luminous, with the softest sheen like the finest silk.
He looked at the gentle arc of her dark lashes, and pictured the incredible colour of her eyes. It wasn’t just the warm shade of golden brown that made them so arresting, it was the way they appeared to be lit from within, almost like tiger’s eye gemstones, which seem to glow in layers, drawing the eye deep into the precious stone.
He imagined how gorgeous they would look in the Caribbean light, gazing lazily up at him as they lay together on the soft white sand, warm water lapping gently at their feet.
Suddenly the image shattered and he found himself picturing her distraught face after he’d confronted her with the truth in her father’s study. The pain and betrayal in her eyes had pierced him like a jagged knife, tearing through his emotional barricades and slicing down to expose his nerves.
But he had been so wrapped up in his own agonising memories when he’d recounted what Vasile had done to his family that somehow Claudia’s pain and distress had become indistinguishable from his own.
Now he let himself remember how horrified she had looked. How completely devastated she’d seemed at the discovery that he’d been using her all along.
A stab of conscience pricked at him.
He pushed it down ruthlessly.
He had wanted to hurt her. He had wanted her to share in the pain that had consumed him for twelve years. It couldn’t have been that much of a surprise to her—she’d always known about his past, about the way their families were connected. It must have simply been frustration that her attempt to pretend ignorance of the past—to slip in past his defences again—had not succeeded.
He would not let her dupe him again. When they’d first met he’d made the mistake of letting down his guard and giving her the benefit of the doubt. That had nearly led to unthinkable consequences.
This time he’d thought that he’d been the one in control—that he’d been the one calling the shots. But now he realised she had started to get under his skin once again, drawing him into her world with her subtle emotional displays.
He’d felt her distress in Wales when she’d wept for her father, and he’d shared her joy when she’d discovered he wasn’t dying. He’d even felt a jolt of protectiveness towards her as it had become clear that she had been deliberately misled.
He jerked to his feet and walked away down the plane, feeling his fingers coil round into tight fists.
The only thing he had to remember was how Claudia had deliberately taken him out of the country, allowing Vasile access to Bianca.
The background noise of the aeroplane engines roared in his ears. He looked at his watch, wishing the journey would be over soon. He hated flying, hated the confinement. Usually he passed the time
